War (album)

War is a 1983 album from U2 (see 1983 in music), produced by Steve Lillywhite. It is their first overtly political album and often considered their first truly extraordinary one.

The album opens with "Sunday Bloody Sunday," an ardent protest song and already a significant departure from the themes of innocence and spirituality displayed on the group's first two albums. The song introduces the album with a startling drum beat by Larry Mullen, Jr., a fuming solo by The Edge, and pointed couplets like: "And today the millions cry / We eat and drink while tomorrow they die."

Other songs concern topics such as nuclear proliferation and prostitution. The mood grows progressively more bleak as the album continues--despite some balance provided by songs such as "Two Hearts Beat As One," a simple love song, and "New Year's Day," which works as both a political song and a love song--until climaxing with the coda of "Surrender" and finally "surrendering" to the hushed hymn "40."

The sound is much more raw than that of the band's other albums, with the drums mixed prominently and the guitar treated relatively lightly, befitting the forceful lyrical matter of the songs.

Track listing

1. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (4:40)
2. "Seconds" (3:10)
3. "New Year's Day" (5:35)
4. "Like A Song..." (4:46)
5. "Drowning Man" (4:14)
6. "The Refugee" (3:40)
7. "Two Hearts Beat As One" (4:03)
8. "Red Light" (3:46)
9. "Surrender" (5:34)
10. "40" (2:35)

Music by U2, words by Bono.

Produced by Steve Lillywhite, except "The Refugee," which was produced by Bill Whelan.

"New Year's Day" and "Two Hearts Beat As One" were released as singles internationally. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "40" were also released as singles in Germany.

In 1993, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remastered the album and released it as a special gold CD. This edition has slightly different running times, most notably extended versions of "Seconds" (3:22) and "Like A Song..." (5:00).

Later in 1983, the band released Under a Blood Red Sky (named after a lyric in "New Year's Day"), a live document of this album's tour.

Trivia

• Only seven songs from this album were played live. One of these, "Like A Song...", was only played once.
• This album was U2's first #1 in the UK, knocking Thriller off the top of the charts.
• The song "40" was the last song written for the album. The verses are based on Psalm 40 and the refrain is from Psalm 6. Bono once described the song by saying, "We spent 10 minutes writing this song, 10 minutes recording it, 10 minutes producing it and 10 minutes mixing it--which has got nothing to do with why it's called '40.'"
• The Edge and Adam Clayton switch instruments on "40," allegedly because the Edge came up with the bass part. The song became the group's definitive live closer, and when played live, the two band members switch instruments and sides of the stage.

Personnel

• Bono--lead vocals, guitar
• The Edge--guitars, piano, lap steel, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Seconds," bass guitar on "40"
• Adam Clayton--bass guitar, guitar on "40"
• Larry Mullen, Jr.--drums

• Kenny Fradley--trumpet
• Steve Wickham-electric violin on "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Drowning Man"
• Cheryl Poirier, Adriana Kaegi, Taryn Hagey, Jessica Felton--backing vocals on "Red Light" and "Surrender"

External links

• Discography entry at U2 Wanderer--Comprehensive details on various editions, cover scans, lyrics, and more.
• U2 tours overview at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com--Includes setlists for every date on the War Tour and most of the setlists for the pre-tour.
• Quotes and information--Detailed background on each song.